Diet Check

Diet Check Questionnaire

• Score 1 point for each yes answer.  Maximum score is 20.
• Do you add sugar to food or drink almost every day?
• Do you eat foods with added sugars almost every day?
• Do you use salt in your food?
• Do you drink more than one cup of coffee most days?
• Do you drink more than three cups of tea most days?
• Do you smoke more than five cigarettes a day?
• Do you take recreational drugs such as cannabis?
• Do you drink more than 10oz of alcohol (one glass of wine, one pint or 600 ml of beer, or two shots) a day?
• Do you eat fried food more than twice a week?
• Do you eat processed fast food more than twice a week?
• Do you eat red meat more than twice a week?
• Do you often eat foods containing additives and preservatives?
• Do you eat chocolate or sweets more than twice a week?
• Does less than a third of your diet consist of raw fruit and vegetables?
• Do you drink less than ½ pint (300 ml) of plain water each day?
• Do you normally eat white rice, flour, or bread rather than whole-grain?
• Do you drink more than 3 pints of milk a week?
• Do you eat more than three slices of bread a day, on average?
• Are there some foods you feel “addicted” to?
• Do you eat oily fish less than twice a week and/or seeds less than daily?

Score:

SCORE

0-4: You are obviously a health-conscious individual and your minor indiscretions are unlikely to affect your health.  Provided you supplement your diet with the right vitamins and minerals, you can look forward to a long and healthy life.

5-9: You are on the right track, but you must be a little stricter with yourself.  Rather than giving up your bad habits, set yourself easy experiments or challenges.  For instance, for one month go without two or three of the foods or drinks you know are not good for you.  See how you feel.  Some you may decide to have occasionally, while others you may find you go off completely.  But be strict for one month – your cravings will only be short-term withdrawal symptoms. Aim to have your score below five within three months.

10-14: Your diet is not good and you will need to make some changes to be able to reach optimum health.  But take it a step at a time.  You should aim to have your score down to five within six months.  Start by following the advice in this chapter, backed up by the advice in part 2.  You will find that some of your bad dietary habits will change for the better as you discover tasty alternatives.  The bad habits that remain should be dealt with one at a time.  Remember that sugar, salt, coffee, and chocolate are all addictive foods.  Your cravings for them will dramatically decrease or go away altogether after one month without them.

15-20: There is no way you can continue to eat like this and remain in good health.  You are consuming far too great a quantity of fat, refined foods and artificial stimulants.  Follow the advice in part 2 very carefully and make gradual and permanent changes to your lifestyle.  For instance, take two questions to which you answered yes and make changes so that one month later you could answer no (one example would be to stop eating sugar and drinking coffee in the first month.)  Keep doing this until your score is five or less.  You may feel worse for the first two weeks, but within a month you will begin to feel the positive effects of healthy eating.

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Reference: The New Optimum Nutrition Bible by Patrick Holford